Lord of Cinder in American Comics

Before the representative could finish speaking, Ash interrupted him. "I'm just a lowly department head. How dare I investigate the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Isn't that insubordination?"

These words caused the five men to frown. After all, the boss gave them a task, and the underlings didn't take it and even complained.

But at this moment, there was no one better to handle this matter, and everyone was frantically checking whether there were any traitors in their ranks.

Ash!

Just as the representative felt slighted and mocked and was about to reprimand Ash severely, he was interrupted by the five representatives.

"Alright, alright, don't get so worked up. Tell me, Ash, what do you want?"

Ami's amiable demeanor eased the tension, but Ash remained as stubborn as ever. Perhaps this person was just a plant by one of the five representatives; anyone can play the good cop/bad cop game.

"My demands? I just want to sit in the sun and have a nice drink, maybe even have the chance to see the beautiful scenery on the beach. Not to solve the world crisis here."

Ash's words, ironically, resonated most deeply with the five. Since learning of Valentine's affair, the five had begun scrutinizing the various documents of the participants.

Aside from the information on Kingsman and United States Liquor Company agents being presented to the five through some secret channel, the most abundant information left was about Ash, the core of this incident.

Based on the various previous information, the five people believed that if it weren't for Ross and Sheffield pushing Ash forward from behind, Ash might have stayed in his sacrificial site until he died.

Even in General Hawke's past and present reports, Ash's character and attitude are noted. He would never meddle in other people's business if it didn't concern him.

Meanwhile, the negotiations within the pentagonal building were mostly handled by military negotiators. Ash's biggest contribution was finding a thug, and he spent the rest of the time sleeping in his chair.

This attitude made Ash the person the World Security Council trusted most at that moment.

Ignoring Ash's complaints, Ami's representative continued as if he hadn't heard them, saying, "This is Maria Hill, the Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., who is in charge of taking over all matters related to Nick Fury. Now she needs your cooperation to meet a demon, since you are the only one with experience and ability in this area."

A cool, capable woman with short brown hair and blue eyes stepped out from behind the Ami representative. She saluted the five representatives with a blank expression.

"Hill will send you the coordinates later. You need to get there as soon as possible to carry out the mission."

"Hey, wait a minute, I haven't agreed yet..."

As soon as Ami finished speaking, she ended the communication with Ash, completely ignoring what Ash said next. Now, all five representatives have learned Ross's methods in their reports, and they just explain the mission to themselves, leaving Ash always forced to participate.

After hanging up the phone, the setting sun had already dipped below the horizon. The only light source here was the helicopter's lighting, which, in contrast to the lights of the United States Winery building in the distance, was just an inconspicuous glimmer amidst the splendor.

Ash sighed and said to Ghost, "Ghost, we're about to set off."

The ghost standing nearby naturally heard the World Security Council's mission. After responding to Ash, it went to arrange for the helicopter's engine to be preheated.

Having received news of their departure, Logan and Swagger were ready.

Logan was carrying a case of tequila, holding the case in one hand and constantly opening bottles and drinking with the other.

The only representative from United States Distillery present was Tequila, who was carrying a cowboy hat and his usual rifle as he approached Escher.

Tequila handed the rifle and cowboy hat to Ash, saying somewhat embarrassedly, "Sir, this is for you."

In Tequila's view, it was rather pathetic that his former idol had saved his life in this operation, and all he had to thank Ash with were these things.

However, Ash readily took it, turned the cowboy hat inside out, and put it on his head. If he added a mask, he would have a style reminiscent of Lucatini.

After considering her own water-spraying gun skills, Ash decided to return the tequila gun.

"Tequila, do you remember what I said? The punishment for wrongdoing will not be offset by your good behavior. Once a wrong action is taken, it is fixed and cannot be changed."

Ash gently tried to reason with Tequila, but perhaps only Tequila could understand what he was saying.

Later in the Golden Circle, Tequila also suffered harm from trying bad things, and Ash's reminder may prevent what happened later.

After all, good advice is hard to persuade a damned man, and whether Tequila is willing to listen is up to him.

After saying goodbye, Ash, Logan, and the others boarded Ghost's helicopter.

As Ash was flipping through the relevant documents sent by the World Security Council, preparing to take a nap with his tablet under his pillow, he received coordinate instructions from Maria Hill.

Ash dialed Hill's communication channel and said irritably, "You're in such a hurry to negotiate with a demon tonight? And I just saw that you made a deal with it before, has the deal been completed?"

Although this was a play written and performed by Ash himself, Hill had no idea why.

"What does it matter?" Hill asked curiously.

"Demons have the advantage of the environment at night. Who has ever seen a demon daring to roam around arrogantly during the day? They all work at night. As for transactions, demons prefer any transaction that breaks the agreement or that they are not prepared to fulfill. Only in this way can they harvest more souls. So I suggest you prepare the previous transaction details first and complete the previous transactions first."

Ash's suggestion was the only option at this moment, and for her own safety and the safety of others, Hill couldn't force Ash to come over.

After much deliberation, Hill ordered his men to surround Fury's secret base, which Pierce had reported to the World Security Council. He decided to wait until Ash arrived the next day to discuss the matter further.

"Ghost, let's go back to Firelink Shrine, I need to see my Fire Keeper!"

Chapter 159: Tony's Death

The fire-lighting ritual site has been restored, free from the chaos and comings and goings brought about by the dimensional invasion.

Now only Martha occasionally comes to go shopping with the Fire Keeper. With these two sharing common interests, Ash and Cassel have a lot of free time.

However, ever since Ash was taken to the pentagonal building for a meeting, Kassel has only been able to find Ash within a limited time to play a game of manhood.

It's worth mentioning that Kingpin's secretary, Leslie, finally paid off his gambling debts by selling surrounding properties. Most of Leslie's gold jewelry was lost to Moz, who only stayed at the Firelink Shrine for a few days.

Almost all the properties around the sacrificial site now belong to Ash, with only one or two daring assassins, such as the Smiths and the retired John Wick, daring to remain there.

Of the remaining residents, only Hatch's family, who were on the same line as the sacrificial site, and Bob, whose background was obscured, dared to stay.

The clearing out of a large number of useless outsiders made the area around the sacrificial site deserted, but it also gave the residents who dared to stay more freedom and more freedom to do as they pleased.

It is said that after returning home, the Smiths, under the pretext of arguing, began to demolish the entire structure of their house. If it weren't for their only remaining neighbors, John Wick and his wife Helen, coming to their door to stop them, the couple might have blown up their own house before they stopped.

John Wick also started his own life. The money he had saved from his time as a hitman was enough for his retirement. At Helen's suggestion, John Wick adopted a quiet French Bulldog, and every morning Wick could be seen walking the dog.

Similarly, taking advantage of the new department's profits, Ash deployed various unexpected defensive weapons around her family's shrine, enlisting the help of her neighbors to become part of the community's defenses.

If anyone tries to infiltrate at this time, they must not only be wary of Kingpin's henchmen patrolling the outermost perimeter, but also of the few remaining neighbors, then the inexplicable minefields and close-in weapon systems, before they can even reach the outer perimeter of the sacrificial site to face those helpless gargoyles.

Back at Firelink Shrine, Ash arranged for the ghosts and others to stay in the vacated house, and, as usual, held the Fire Keeper's hand to spend the quiet night.

However, the radar at the shrine was the first to sound the air raid siren, and the well-trained neighbors were the first to evacuate and defend themselves.

Jane Smith crouched on her rooftop, carrying the anti-aircraft missile's observation and aiming equipment, locking onto the flash of light that pierced the night sky.

John Smith, on the other hand, pulled back the tarpaulin hidden in their yard, revealing the Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) concealed underneath.

This defensive weapon, manufactured by Raytheon and equipped with an active radar seeker based on AIM-120 technology, is capable of eliminating any suspicious targets within a 240-kilometer radius at an altitude of 30 kilometers.

Just as everyone was hidden and waiting for the target to come within range, Ash's cell phone, which was hidden on her body, was forcibly activated.

“Mr. Ash, please revoke the air defense missile authorization. Ms. Pepper is en route here. Repeat, the target is Ms. Pepper.”

An electronic voice, accompanied by a flat tone, came from the phone, explaining the identity of the visitor to Ash.

Upon hearing the explanation, at the Fire Keeper's instruction, Iris deactivated the anti-aircraft missile authorization and radar alarm, while also explaining the situation to the evacuated neighbors.

In everyone's eyes, the firelight in the sky landed on the outskirts of the sacrificial site in a very irregular arc, or rather, it could be said to have crashed to the ground.

When the smoke cleared, it was revealed to be a humanoid full-body armor with a silver exterior. It hadn't even been fully painted yet, with only the hands covered in red paint.

The people inside the armor operated very clumsily, leaving footprints like metal cans on the ground, ruining a large patch of grass in Ash's territory.

Seeing this, Ash frowned and tentatively said into the phone, "Can't you just let her out first?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire armor began to disintegrate from the front, and Pepper was ejected from it.

Falling to the ground, Pepper frantically grabbed the grass and, after assessing her surroundings, looked around at the people around her.

Until Pepper saw Ash and shouted, "Ash, quick! Tony is in danger! Stan is going to kill him!"

This shocking news reminded Ash of the Iron Man storyline. 'What? Is it going to happen ahead of schedule?'

While Ash hesitated, the Fire Keeper helped Pepper up, who had collapsed to the ground, and led her into the Firelink Shrine.

With the help of the campfire, Pepper calmed down completely and, with the Fire Keeper's comfort, gradually explained what had happened.

The story goes back to when Stark returned to his cliffside villa on Malibu Beach after dropping Ash off.

Here, Stark is designing and developing his first product, a personal armored vehicle he named the Mark series.

After improving the Arc Reactor at Stark Industries, Stark shrunk it to a size that could be held in the palm of his hand. Next, he tested its armor.

The armor shell uses the gold-titanium alloy from Cisco's Angel Tactical Satellite to ensure that the shell is not damaged.

Just as Stark was testing the first prototype, Pepper walked in from outside the workshop.

"Tony, Stan is outside. He needs to talk to you."

Obadiah Stein is the CEO of Stark Industries, and he is responsible for almost everything at Stark Industries.

When Tony returned to his upper residence from the studio, Obadiah Stan was already impatiently waiting there.

Upon seeing Stark, Stan couldn't wait to go over and said, "Tony, let me see him! Let me see him right now!"

Stark, with a hint of proud amusement, asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Come on, Tony. I know you too well. You've accessed all of Stark Industries' previous experimental data on the Arc Reactor. I know you must have a new idea, and maybe you've already implemented it."

Stan was eager to learn about all of Stark's unusual behavior. After all, he had been handling everything about Stark for so many years before Pepper. He knew exactly what Stark was going to say the moment he made a move.

After wiping the oil off his hands, Stark led Stan to his workshop and showed him the scaled-down Arc Reactor.

Upon seeing the actual item, Stan couldn't contain his excitement. He put his arm around Stark's shoulder and said, "Listen to me, Tony, we're on the same team, right? As long as we work together, there's nothing we can't do! Just like your father and I did back then!"

Seeing Stan like this, Stark couldn't help but say, "Sorry I didn't let you know in advance."

Stan stared at the glowing reactor in front of him, but his gaze shifted to Stark.

“Tony, you have to leave this to me. We need to play a different game now. With this little gadget, Stark Industries will be the most powerful arms dealer!”

"Wait, wait, wait! I never intended to weaponize it!"

Stark's explanation failed to attract Stan's attention. Pointing to the armor model sketches in the workshop, Stan said, "Come on, Tony, look what you're doing! You're creating a new arms race! With this, Stark Industries will be invincible!"

Stark, responding to Stan's tone with a touch of solemnity, said, "But I really didn't mean to do that!"

Stark's usually frivolous remarks made Stan take them seriously, and he asked earnestly, "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I have no intention of weaponizing it."

Stan received a reply, patted Stark on the shoulder, and said in a comforting tone, "Alright, let's do it your way."

After saying that, Stan walked upstairs.

Seeing that Stan was about to leave, Stark asked, "Aren't you going to stay and see how I do it?"

"No, Stark Industries can't do without me. I have more important things to do."